I agree with you somewhat Dread, but I think the kilt is actually a shield. Most of us are forward thinkers or at least veer from the norm in some way other than just our kilt wearing. All of us, I believe, prefer to surround ourselves with more open-minded people than the general populace. The kilt shields us from the pain of developing a friendship with someone who later reveals him or herself to be a narrow minded twit.

I will say however, that the kilt does also open some doors. I have ended up in some wonderful conversations with people I would probably not have known had I not been kilted. Today I got on a bus and the driver struck up a conversation with me about the kilt. (I gave the just finished camo an outing today.) She was very impressed with the fact that I made it myself, and commented how she'd love to get her boyfriend into one. (Somewhat surprising as she was black, but hey-someone got Samuel L. Jackson into one!) That conversation would probably not gone past the "good morning/ how are you/good day" type of social lubricant that happens all the time in the everyday world. Later in the day, some woman passing by my wife and I said something about how I should be wearing nylons because I was probably freezing. I smiled a polite smile and told her I was perfectly comfortable. She looked a little surprised, so I told her how much fabric went into the making of my kilt and she kind of shook her head and walked away. We wished her a good day as she left and that was that. An odd exchange to be sure, but I got to educate someone who was curious about the kilt and get a mild chuckle at the same time.

On the other hand, a Denver police officer muttered something about "d*mn cross dresser" as we passed his cruiser. One of those things that lets you know that there's no way you'd ever want to hang around the guy.